LGBT lessons row: Parents set to withdraw kids from school

News

Posted on 16 May 2019

Parents of children at the predominantly Muslim Anderton Park primary school in Birmingham’s Balsall Heath district are set to withdraw their children from the school on Monday in protest at the teaching of lessons about same-sex relationships.

The proposed withdrawal, following on from unsuccessful attempts to resolve the dispute, will be the latest move in the ongoing controversy about LGBT lessons being taught to young children.

Angry parents have also been protesting outside Parkfield Community School in the city’s Saltley district, where assistant head teacher Andrew Moffat, who is himself gay, has been running his No Outsiders programme, an initiative designed to teach youngsters about subjects including sexual orientation.

And the conflict between parents and schools over LGBT lessons isn’t confined to Birmingham. According to the National Association of Head Teachers, letters have been sent to more than 50 schools across seven parts of the country from parents whose religion makes them unhappy about the lessons.

The ongoing row has happened at a time when the government has said that relationships education will be compulsory in all primary schools from September 2020, and that parents will not get a veto.